• share
• favorite_border

The 3rd Annual Conference on Medicine and Religion reflects on issues relating to medicine and the frailty of the human body.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study analyzing the origins of the adipose fin, thought by some to be vestigial, finds that these fins arose repeatedly and independently in multiple species—a striking example of convergent evolution. Adipose fins also appear to have repeatedly and independently evolved skeleton, offering a glimpse into the evolution of vertebrate appendages.

• share
• favorite_border

Activation of beta-catenin, the primary mediator of the ubiquitous Wnt signaling pathway, alters the immune system in lasting and harmful ways, causing chronic inflammation in the intestine and colon, eventually leading to cancer. Researchers unravel the mechanism of this transition.

• share
• favorite_border

Although the time and cost of sequencing the human genome has plummeted, analyzing the 3 billion base pairs of genetic information can take months. Researchers working with Beagle—one of the world’s fastest supercomputers devoted to life sciences—report they can analyze 240 full genomes in 50 hours.

• share
• favorite_border

The elusive progenitor cells that give rise to innate lymphoid cells—a recently discovered group of infection-fighting white blood cells—have been identified in fetal liver and adult bone marrow of mice.

• share
• favorite_border

Genetic adaptations for life at high elevations found in residents of the Tibetan plateau likely originated around 30,000 years ago in peoples related to contemporary Sherpa. These genes were passed on to more recent migrants from lower elevations via population mixing, and then amplified by natural selection in the modern Tibetan gene pool, according to a new study by scientists from the University of Chicago and Case Western Reserve University, published in Nature Communications on Feb. 10. The transfer of beneficial mutations between human populations and selective enrichment of these genes in descendent generations represents a novel mechanism for adaptation to new environments.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Chicago Medicine named its first two deans for faculty affairs, appointments designed to support the needs of faculty within the Biological Sciences Division.

• share
• favorite_border

Poor-quality sleep with frequent awakenings can speed cancer growth, increase tumor aggressiveness and dampen the immune system’s ability to control cancer. This study demonstrates the effects of sleep loss on tumor growth and invasiveness and points to a mechanism for therapy.

• share
• favorite_border

Dogs and wolves evolved from a common ancestor between 9,000 and 34,000 years ago, before humans transitioned to agricultural societies, according to an analysis of modern dog and wolf genomes from areas of the world thought to be centers of dog domestication.

• share
• favorite_border

A study of marine life in the temperate coastal waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean shows a reversal of competitive dominance among species of algae, suggesting that increased ocean acidification caused by global climate change is altering biodiversity.

• share
• favorite_border

Empathy-driven behavior has been observed in rats who will free trapped companions from restrainers. This behavior also extends toward strangers, but requires prior, positive social interactions with the type (strain) of the unfamiliar individual, report scientists from the University of Chicago in the open access journal eLife, on Jan. 14. The findings suggest that social experiences, not genetics or kin selection, determine whether an individual will help strangers out of empathy. The importance of social experience extends even to rats of the same strain—a rat fostered and raised with a strain different than itself will not help strangers of its own kind.

• share
• favorite_border

Cancer researchers at the University of Chicago and five other leading institutions will share equally in a $540 million gift from Ludwig Cancer Research, on behalf of its founder Daniel K. Ludwig.

• share
• favorite_border

People with intermittent explosive disorder — a psychiatric illness characterized by impulsivity, hostility and recurrent aggressive outbursts — have elevated levels of two markers of systemic inflammation in their blood, signs of inflammation not seen in people in good mental health or with other psychiatric disorders.

• share
• favorite_border

A new test may help physicians identify patients with the most lethal forms of triple-negative breast cancer. It was able to distinguish between patients with a good or poor prognosis, even within groups of patients already stratified by existing tests.

• share
• favorite_border

Around 20 percent of all humans are persistently colonized with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, a leading cause of skin infections and one of the major sources of hospital-acquired infections, including the antibiotic-resistant strain MRSA. University of Chicago scientists have recently discovered one of the keys to the immense success of S. aureus—the ability to hijack a primary human immune defense mechanism and use it to destroy white blood cells. The study was published Nov 15 in Science.

• share
• favorite_border

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded the University of Chicago $4.4 million over five years to study genes of unknown function in bacteria that cause plague and brucellosis.

• share
• favorite_border

More than 50 researchers, physicians and fellows from the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics from various parts of the world will gather Nov. 15-16, to lead discussions debates around critical ethical issues facing patients, doctors, nurses, allied health workers and health care institutions.

• share
• favorite_border

Karen Stratton, PhD, RN, NE-BC, has been promoted to Vice President for Women’s and Children’s Services after distinguishing herself as a key leader since joining the University of Chicago Medicine in May 2012.

• share
• favorite_border

Only a few genetic changes are needed to spur the evolution of new species—even if the original populations are still in contact and exchanging genes. Once started, however, evolutionary divergence evolves rapidly, ultimately leading to fully genetically isolated species, report scientists from the University of Chicago in the Oct 31 Cell Reports.

• share
• favorite_border

More than 1 in 10 Americans take antidepressants, but these medications can take weeks—and for some patients, months—before they begin to alleviate symptoms. Now, scientists from the University of Chicago have discovered that selectively blocking a serotonin receptor subtype induces fast-acting antidepressant effects in mice, indicating a potential new class of therapeutics for depression. The work was published Oct. 29 in Molecular Psychiatry.

• share
• favorite_border

An international research consortium led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the University of Chicago has answered several questions about the genetic background of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette syndrome (TS), providing the first direct confirmation that both are highly heritable and also revealing major differences between the underlying genetic makeup of the disorders. Their report is being published in the October issue of the open-access journal PLOS Genetics.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Chicago Medicine Kovler Diabetes Center will dedicate a new diabetes education library to honor the legacy of the late James C. Tyree, former chairman and CEO of Mesirow Financial Holdings, chairman of Sun-Times Media Group and a board member at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Chicago Medicine contributed more than 21 percent, or $254.1 million, of its operating expenses in fiscal 2012 to improve the health of the South Side and the broader Chicago area, according to its recently published second annual Community Benefit Report.

• share
• favorite_border

New research at the University of Chicago is laying the groundwork for touch-sensitive prosthetic limbs that one day could convey real-time sensory information to amputees via a direct interface with the brain.

• share
• favorite_border

The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association have recognized the University of Chicago Medicine as a Comprehensive Stroke Center, a new level of certification reserved for institutions with specific abilities to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases.

• share
• favorite_border

Advances in modern medicine and biotechnology have changed the way people die. Unfortunately, families of dying patients are often critical of and report dissatisfaction with what they view as highly medicalized deaths.

• share
• favorite_border

New research shows that humans distinguish the difference between fine textures, such as silk or satin, through vibrations, which are picked up by two separate sets of nerve receptors in the skin and relayed to the brain.

• share
• favorite_border

The Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence has chosen four second-year Pritzker School of Medicine students to become Bucksbaum Student Scholars, the third cohort of students chosen since the institute was founded in 2011.

• share
• favorite_border

University of Chicago scientists have created one of the most expansive analyses to date of the genetic factors at play in complex diseases such as autism and heart disease—by using diseases with known genetic causes to guide them. Identifying trends of co-occurrence among hundreds of diseases in 120 million patients, they created a unique genetic map that has the potential to help diagnose, identify risk factors for and someday develop therapies against complex diseases.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Chicago Medicine's MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics has been awarded the prestigious Cornerstone Award from the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities for outstanding contributions that have helped shape the fields of bioethics and/or medical humanities.

• share
• favorite_border

Dana Suskind, MD, professor of surgery and pediatrics and director of the pediatric cochlear implant program at the University of Chicago Medicine, has been named to the Advisory Council for “Too Small to Fail,” a joint initiative of Next Generation and The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation aimed at improving the health and well-being of American children from birth to 5 years old.

• share
• favorite_border

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has signed on as the title sponsor for the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital’s premier fundraising event, lending its name and support to the hospital’s 5K run through 2016.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine are conducting a six-month study to find out whether flaxseed, a natural food, has the potential to be a safe and effective alternative for preventing breast cancer in women like you.

• share
• favorite_border

Exposure to low to moderate amounts of arsenic in drinking water can impair lung function. Doses of about 120 parts per billion of arsenic in well water produced lung damage comparable to decades of smoking tobacco.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

The Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence has named its latest round of Junior Faculty Scholars.

• share
• favorite_border

University of Chicago researchers have discovered the first human "bifunctional" gene--a single gene that creates a single mRNA transcript that codes for two different proteins, simultaneously. Their finding elucidates a previously unknown mechanism in our basic biology, and has potential to guide therapy for at least one neurological disease.

• share
• favorite_border

Jessica Kandel, MD, has been named professor of surgery, section chief of pediatric surgery and surgeon-in-chief at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, effective Aug. 1, 2013.

• share
• favorite_border

Resurrecting ancient proteins in the lab, researchers discover just two mutations set the stage for the evolution of modern hormone signaling.

• share
• favorite_border

Emily Nicklin, a lead corporate litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and a trustee of the University of Chicago since 2004, has been named chair of the Medical Center’s Board of Trustees.

• share
• favorite_border

Local chemical signals released by fat cells in the mammary gland appear to provide a crucial link between exposure to unrelenting social stressors early in life, and the subsequent development of aggressive breast cancer.

• share
• favorite_border

The ability to distinguish odors declines with age. A study shows that African-Americans have a greater decrease than Caucasians. This has serious consequences. Olfactory loss often leads to impaired nutrition. It can be an early warning sign of neurodegenerative diseases, and can predict death.

• share
• favorite_border

In the first GWAS to focus on warfarin dose requirement in African-Americans, researchers have identified a common genetic variation that can help physicians estimate the correct dose of the widely used blood-thinning drug warfarin.

• share
• favorite_border

Doctors and patients are encouraged to share decision making. This enhances communication, satisfaction and outcomes, and may lower cost. Yet a new study found that patients who want to participate in their medical decisions end up spending more time in the hospital and raising costs of their stay.

• share
• favorite_border

Teams of highly respected Alzheimer’s researchers failed to replicate what appeared to be breakthrough results for the treatment of this brain disease when they were published last year in the journal Science.

• share
• favorite_border

Jeffrey B. Matthews, MD, Dallas B. Phemister Professor of Surgery and chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine, has been named president-elect of the Chicago Surgical Society.

• share
• favorite_border

A clinical trial at the University of Chicago Medicine aims to find new ways of preventing type 2 diabetes or slow its progression by treating participants with medications normally used for people who have had full-blown diabetes for at least one year. The trial will enroll individuals who are prediabetic or have been recently diagnosed with diabetes but are not taking drugs to treat the condition.

• share
• favorite_border

The University of Chicago is launching the first secure cloud-based computing system that will enable researchers to access and analyze human genomic cancer information without the costly and cumbersome infrastructure normally needed to download and store massive amounts of data.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

University of Chicago neurobiologists have shown how an organism can sense a tactile stimulus, in real time, through an artificial sensor for the first time.